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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Have a Idea.....need advice[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Patent Forum ] [ FAQ ] Posted by contingency lawyer on February 18, 2002 at 05:17:22: In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Have a Idea.....need advice posted by Bill Harkey on February 16, 2002 at 05:01:36: To set the record straight we have posted the entire email sent to Mr. Harkey and others who inquired about our services. You will find it at the bottom of this posting. As our email states this is not an offer to perform services, it is a request for input on how we can provide a service fair to inventors and us. We would appreciate comments from other inventors also. We have not posted a name yet, because we are not yet ready to provide this service, as we have not yet reached an understanding of how to receive proper compensation. Names will be provided once we are ready. The “Fees” Mr. Harkey refers to are the USPTO filing fees. The “Engineering fees” Mr. Harkey mentions are the estimated fees paid to a draftsman for creating the USPTO required patent drawings. According to USPTO ethical cannons, it is unethical for an attorney pay these fees for a client. We did include a $300 attorney fee for an attorney to review the application and claims. We believe that an experience attorney should review the claims drafted by a patent agent to ensure the breadth and scope of the claims. We believe this fee to be nominal. According the “American Intellectual Property Law Association 1999 Report” attorneys charged, on average, over six thousand dollars ($6,000) for preparation and filing a mechanical patent application. This six thousand excludes the USPTO filing fee and draftsman fees mentioned above. Adding filing fees, draftsman fees, to these attorney fees the average inventor in 1999 paid over eight thousand dollars ($8,000) for a filing relatively complex mechanical patent application in the USPTO. These numbers have increased in the past three years. Inventors should understand that filing the patent application does not end the attorney’s work. It is necessary for the attorney to respond to USPTO official actions, restrictions, and other events. Each of these events requires the attorneys time, time that could be utilized to bill other clients. So, the estimate of saving a couple of hundred dollars is off by at least six thousand dollars ($6,000). And by my experience, I would say your savings would be well over ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Furthermore, an Inventor should understand that the governmental fees do not end once a patent is filed, nor issued. After filing the application, the inventor will pay USPTO issuance fees and USPTO maintenance fees. Once again, ethically we cannot pay these fees for the inventor. These fees are not insignificant to a small inventor. Our contemplated service will of course require that the inventor pay the issuance fee and maintain the invention for the full patent term. We could only expect to receive royalties, our contingent fee, on valid enforceable patents. Otherwise we have simply wasted our time on pro bono work. We do want to make money. Further, we would expect the inventor to take affirmative measure to market, license, or sell for value the patent. We are trying to outline a way for small inventors to patent solid commercially viable inventions at low cost. The ethical rules and USPTO do not allow us an opportunity to do so at no cost to the inventor. Finally, yes Mr. Harkley this is a true contingency arrangement. The contingency is that we as lawyers and patent agents are giving up our fees in order to receive a steady stream of royalties on the small chance that an invention should make money. Most patents do not make money. Email to Mr. Harkley and others inquiring of our services. We are opening a contingency fee service for As the United States Government requires fees for filing patent The arrangement will require the Thus, we can not offer to file a patent application for you at no This is a new service and we would like your input. www.contingencylawyers.freeservers.com
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